Here’s Everything We Announced at Unite, and What It Means for You As a Merchant

On March 21st, we kicked off Unite, our first ever Partner and Developer conference, at Fort Mason Center in San Francisco. The two-day event brought together hundreds of Shopify Partners and Developers from around the world—including New Zealand, Australia, Europe, and India—to discuss the future of Shopify, commerce, and technology.

At the conference, we announced a ton of new stuff, everything we’ve been quietly working on over the last year. Keynotes from Shopify leadership, including CEO Tobi Lutke and COO Harley Finkelstein, covered it all: from buy buttons to the online store, plus a big reveal that makes it easier for you to sell anywhere.

Here’s a roundup of all the announcements, and what it means for you as a merchant.

Developers can build new sales channels

Last year, we made it possible for you to sell on Facebook, Pinterest, and Twitter. Now, developers can use that same technology to start building new sales channels for Shopify. The first companies to take advantage of this are Ebates, Houzz, and Wanelo. You’ll be able to sell through these, and many more channels, soon.

What this means for you: Your potential customers are spending their time, and likely shopping, in lots of different apps, platforms, and marketplaces. Now, you’ll be able to use Shopify to easily sell in all of them.

Build a custom, branded shopping experience on any website

The Shopify Buy Button made it possible for anyone to add products to any website or platform with the features and security of Shopify. Now, with our JavaScript Buy SDK, developers can go beyond embedding buy buttons, and instead build completely custom, branded online stores on any website, platform, or app.

What this means for you: With a little help from a Shopify Expert, you’ll be able to build unique shopping experiences, like custom storefronts, lookbooks, sponsored content, and even advertisements, anywhere.

Mobile SDKs get a big upgrade

Last year, we introduced the iOS and Android Buy SDK, making it easy for developers to create beautiful mobile apps for merchants like you. Now, those mobile apps can include Android Pay and a customer login. And, we’ve added a toolkit that makes it easy for our partners to rapidly build apps, so you can get them into the app stores, and your customers hands, sooner.

What this means for you: Developers now have all the tools they need to build you a mobile app, fast. With both Apple Pay and Android Pay enabled, your checkout will be frictionless, and with customer login, you’ll be able to offer shoppers a more personal experience, which can lead to more sales.

Do more with your online store

To give you even more power and control over the home of your brand—your online store—we introduced two new tools: the Online Store Editor and Shopify Scripts. The new Online Store Editor makes it easier for you to build unbelievably beautiful, fully customized online stores. Shopify Scripts, on the other hand, works behind the scenes, allowing developers to write custom code on Shopify servers.

What this means for you: Now you have even more freedom to build the brand you’ve always imagined. With the new Online Store Editor and Shopify Scripts, you’ll have complete control over both the look and feel of your online store. Customize everything from design and layout to taxes, shipping, discounts, and promotions.

The Online Store Editor will become available soon, and for the time being, Shopify Scripts is currently only available on Shopify Plus.

That’s a wrap

Unite is over, but our work has just begun. Look for these, and even more tools and features to become available over the coming weeks and months. Sign up to be the first to find out as it all becomes available.